Ghosts of Industry: Johnstown, PA

Where to begin with Johnstown? Arguably, the American steel industry was born there. At one point, the Bethlehem Steel plant ran 11 miles along the river and employed 13,000 people. Johnstown rivals New York City as a place where the immigrant experience was lived most intensely. It's a microcosm of American industrial history and an exemplar of the Ghosts of Industry theme.

Johnstown and the lives of thousands of people who lived there were destroyed in 1889 when a poorly-maintained earthen dam upstream on the Little Conemaugh River gave way and a wave of water, rocks, lumber and trees swept down the valley. The dam was owned by a club where wealthy people had summer houses--some of the same captains of industry who owned and ran the mills. The rich giveth and they taketh away.

This place has survived so much misfortune. Still, there's a lot of positive energy among the townspeople, a couple of great museums and a network of community pride institutions, and it's attempting to reinvent itself as an education and healthcare hub. That's working for Pittsburgh. Hopefully, it can work for Johnstown, too.

Downtown Johnstown and remains of Bethlehem Steel

These next photos are of a section of the mill upriver from Johnstown

The Bethlehem Steel mill ceased operations in 1992 

It's gradually being demolished for scrap

Old coke ovens

This next bunch of photos are of a section of the Bethlehem Steel mill near downtown Johnstown.

Entrance for employees

These next photos are of the old Cambria Iron Works, which was founded in Johnstown in 1860 and where high-volume steel-making techniques were perfected. It's a national historic landmark.

Cambria Iron Works from across the Conemaugh River, downstream from downtown Johnstown

Inside the old iron works....